5. PIC - Labour Disruptions in the Transportation Sector

LOCATION: National

ISSUE/SOURCE: Labour Disruptions in the Transportation Sector

DATE: September 2024

SUGGESTED RESPONSES

Transport Canada is monitoring labour negotiations in the transportation sector closely to avoid any work stoppage and to prevent disruptions to supply chains.
Ensuring that essential goods reach Canadians as quickly as possible is a top priority for the Government of Canada. Resilient and efficient supply chains are not only critical to ensuring the competitiveness of Canadian businesses, but also for the daily lives of Canadians.
Everyone — the employer(s), the union(s), the mediators, and the Government of Canada — understand the urgency to resolve this as quickly as possible as Canadians and our international partners rely on efficient supply chains.

Transport Canada will continue to work closely with counterparts at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service at Employment and Social Development Canada, who are the lead on this issue, and are actively engaged.
In the event of a work stoppage, Transport Canada would continue to enforce safety requirements and maintain regular contact with any transportation companies whose operations could be affected, to assess potential impacts and ensure compliance with regulatory and legislative requirements.
The Government of Canada respects and has confidence in the collective bargaining process and strongly encourages the parties to work together to reach a resolution. The best deals are the ones reached by the parties at the bargaining table.

Transport Canada is closely following several labour negotiations in the transportation sector that could potentially have significant impact on our economy.
These include longshoremen at the Port of Montréal, foremen at West Coast ports, and grain handlers at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
These negotiations add significant uncertainty to a global and domestic economic situation that is already strained from the impact of the Red Sea Crisis, the Panama Canal drought, and two major world conflicts - Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the crisis in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These events have forced Canadian supply chains to adapt at higher cost and efforts.
This uncertainty also comes in a context of repeated major labour disruptions in Canada that have caused major harms to the economy: the recent work stoppage of the Class 1 railways in August 2024, the 10-day longshoremen strike on the West Coast last summer and the St. Lawrence Seaway strike in October 2023.

Member of Parliament unanimously passed the Bill C-58 on May 27, 2024, that would ban federal employers from using replacement workers during lockouts or strikes.
The legislation allows for an exemption where replacement workers can be used, in cases where there are threats to health and safety, or serious environmental or property damage.
The Bill received royal assent on Thursday, June 20, 2024 and will come into force on June 20, 2025.